“Why not wait for a player who gave us so much, we are exchanging ideas and it’s with Mr Woodward and Zlatan’s agent but the final decision is what’s best for the player.

“We wanted to be open and honest and left everything for him to make a decision in case his desire was to leave, so there was not a new contract.”

Bolt meanwhile has always been keen to try his hand as a professional footballer, training with French club JS Saint-Jean Beaulieu last year, with rumours also swirling he would be trialling at Borussia Dortmund.

On a career move, Bolt claimed in 2016: “In my mind, I think I should do a trial and see if they would say ‘Alright, come on in’ or if they would say ‘No, you are not any good.’